Stockholm, 20th September 2021 Social audio network Logcast today announces that it has received new investment from American entertainment stars and music executives ahead of its launch into the US market next month.
Star of Showtime’s ‘The Chi’ Jacob Latimore, Girvan “Fly” Henry (Think It’s A Game Records), streaming executive J.R. McKee, and Drew de Leon (Alamo Records / The Digilogue) are among new investors and entertainment business veterans that have participated in the financing round for Logcast — the new social audio network challenger to Clubhouse that aims to empower the next generation of audio creators. The new investors join existing music industry veterans Jonas Siljemark (former President, Warner Music Nordics) and Juan Serruya (former Head of Engineering, Spotify) as advisors in the company.
The Stockholm-based startup, founded by Johanna Hoof and Leni Andronicos, enables anyone with a smartphone to create audio experiences within seconds, with users able to record and share content on the go with “one tap”. Once creators have recorded their voice, they can edit the clip, add a photo and share it instantly with their community on the app. In an attempt to encourage authentic content, the app doesn’t allow pre-recorded uploads; instead, users have one shot at pressing the record button, recording the content and publishing.
Logcast makes the traditionally one-sided experience of podcasting social for the first time, with users able to follow their friends, create Projects, join groups (or “Circles”), send private messages, and discover personalised experiences as served by the app’s data-driven recommendation engine. It’s been described as a personalized “micro podcast” reel — or if you took a podcast app, crossed it with Twitter and added a dash of TikTok.
“Being a streaming executive has put me in a unique position to be able to see behind the curtains of social media platforms over the last several years. I witnessed how a platform like snapchat transformed the way people consume video content and in turn forced other platforms to follow suit,” said J.R. McKee, partner at MPR Ventures.
“We’re now on the forefront of that same transition with audio content and I believe Logcast is going to be the vehicle that takes us there. Still what made us at MPR Ventures invest is when every artist and influencer we showed Logcast to immediately wanted to join the platform. They loved the idea that at the push of a button, without having to worry about their hair, make-up, and surroundings, they could relay their thoughts and feelings to their fanbase in such a pure unedited fashion. It’s clear that logging is the future of social media.”
The social audio network will soon roll out a suite of next-gen monetization tools (currently in beta), offering creators the opportunity to lock audio experiences and allow fans to pay for access to exclusive content and experiences. Helping creators easily monetize their “experiences” direct with their community, Logcast believes that fan-to-creator business models lead to better monetisation and deeper engagement in creator’s businesses, as well as new forms of collaboration, community and creativity.
“We believe that audio creators of the future deserve full ownership over their content, not the platforms that make money off them,” says Leni Andronicos, co-founder Logcast. “We see the mistakes made by web 2’s social and streaming platforms as our opportunity, and are working hard to realign the relationships between creators and their fans.”
Since the launch of its public beta in April this year, thousands of creators, including music artists, comedians, sports stars, and health & lifestyle experts, have joined the platform, with over 40,000 minutes of content streamed. The app is currently available in Sweden but the company plans to expand its presence globally next month.
Current backers of Logcast include global tech executives Niklas Carlheim–Müller (former Vice President, Ericsson), Adam Jafer (founder, VOI Technology), NJORD Ventures, Tahero Nori (founder, Tech Buddy), Starbright Invest, Jens Nygård (Vice President, Episerver) and Mathias Jussila (Nordic Capital).
